The present invention relates to endoscopic apparatus having outer rail guide systems.
Endoscopic devices have been commonly used for various procedures, typically in the abdominal area. Endoscopy is the examination and inspection of the interior of body organs, joints or cavities through an endoscope. Endoscopy allows physicians to peer through the body's passageways. An endoscopic procedure may be used to diagnose various conditions by close examination of internal organ and body structures and may also guide therapy and repair, such as the removal of torn cartilage from the bearing surfaces of a joint. A biopsy, a procedure involving tissue sampling for pathologic testing, may also be performed under endoscopic guidance. For example, endoscopic procedures include the following known procedures: gastroscopy, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, esophago gastro duodenoscopy (EGD), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and bronchoscopy.
An endoscope typically includes at least one separate port or working channel. Such port(s) may be used to introduce endoscopic instruments such as catheters, forceps, scissors, brushes, snares or baskets for tissue excision, sampling, or other diagnostic and therapeutic work. The inner diameter of such working channels or ports may vary based on the instruments used during an endoscopic procedure, affecting the overall outer diameter size of the insertion tube of the endoscope. The differences in diameter typically affect the resulting size of the outer diameter of the endoscope. Moreover, as clinicians may use a number of various sized medical devices during an endoscopic procedure, they face challenges in maintaining wire guide position in certain anatomy, e.g., within the biliary tree, while executing an endoscopic procedure.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved endoscope apparatus that allows a clinician the ability to use various sizes of medical devices with one endoscope while maintaining longitudinal positioning within a patient's gastrointestinal anatomy.